


Eyes Open: A Songfic

by shatteringgalaxies



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: F/M, Songfic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-07
Updated: 2015-04-07
Packaged: 2018-03-21 16:18:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,836
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3698834
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shatteringgalaxies/pseuds/shatteringgalaxies
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Armin loves you, you love him. But then it's as if happiness was a memory. The deaths of your comrades, the indescribable horror of titans, the plain, simple fear of abandonment. How is one supposed to stay sane in such a world?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Eyes Open: A Songfic

**Author's Note:**

> This piece is a songfic using the song "Eyes Open" by Taylor Swift. I do not own the song or lyrics or claim to own them. I used the lyrics in between parts in my writing to emphasize emotions.

> _Everybody's waiting_
> 
> _Everybody's watching_
> 
> _Even when you're sleeping_
> 
> _Keep your ey-eyes open_  
> 

  
"(F/N)," you heard someone calling out, "(F/N)!" You stopped and turned around, facing the one who was shouting your name. A boy stood before you, his blond hair matted with blood, clothes ripped and grimy, fingernails caked with dirt. 

"Armin!" you ran to him, completely forgetting the colleague you were helping, and embraced the returning Scout, "You're back. You came back."

He pulled you closer and held you tightly, hiding his face in the crook of your neck. He was shaking, sobs erupting from his tired, worn body.

"(F/N), they died. They all died," he said, lifting his head to look at your countenance. You looked into his blue eyes, and what you saw there scared you. They weren't sky blue anymore, not the happy, beautiful blue you had seen in them for so long. No, they were a broken, fractured color. The kind you see in shattered glass, the kind you see and remember everything you had been trying to forget all your life. The color of empty swings and unkept promises. You stroked his head, not asking who was gone; what seats would be empty in the dining hall that night.

"It's okay Armin. I'm here, right? We'll make it through this somehow. Don't we always?"

"I don't know if I can anymore, (F/N)," he whispered, his voice almost lighter than the breeze.

"Hush, all we have left is to carry on. So we will. That's all we can do in this world that's been given to us."

"Just... just don't you leave me, too, (F/N)," he begged, "Please."

"I won't. I'll always be here. I'll always be with you. _I promise_."

> _The tricky thing_
> 
> _Is yesterday we were just children_
> 
> _Playing soldier_
> 
> _Just pretending_
> 
> _Dreaming dreams with happy endings_
> 
> _In backyards, winning battles with our wooden swords_
> 
> _But now we've stepped into a cruel world_
> 
> _Where everybody stands and keeps score_
> 
> _Keep your eyes open_  
> 

  
You and Armin were lying in a small field of grass outside the stables, looking up at the firmament above you. The moon hung in the dark sky like a ripe cantaloupe, the stars twinkling around it as if if laughing at its solitude. The chirping of crickets resonated through the night, a steady rhythm occasionally featuring a lonely _hoot_ from an owl here and there. 

"Armin," you murmured, "Remember when we were kids, and Eren, Mikasa, and I would play with those wooden swords you helped us make, while you always had your nose in a book?"

He let out a small, sad laugh, "Yeah, I read about real swords in those old volumes my grandfather gave me, and in them there was something about boys training with one from a very young age so that they could grow up and fight for the King, sometimes even going out and exploring new land to conquer. So I decided that maybe we should make our own swords, since we wanted to go outside the walls and investigate unknown places ourselves."

You smiled, entwining your fingers with his, "We will, someday."

"Hopefully. We'll adventure for Mikasa and Eren, too. I miss them."

"I miss them, too, Armin."

"Maybe we'll even see the ocean."

"Maybe."

> _Everybody's waiting for you to break down_
> 
> _Everybody's watching to see the fallout_
> 
> _Even when you're sleeping, sleeping_
> 
> _Keep your ey-eyes open_
> 
> _Keep your ey-eyes open_
> 
> _Keep your ey-eyes open_  
> 

  
"Oh no you don't!" you yelled, slicing into the nape of a titan's neck before it could bite into one of your teammates. She wriggled out of the monster's grip as it started to fall backwards, and hurriedly used her gear to reach you. 

"Thank you!" the auburn-haired girl said, tears brimming at the corners of her eyes, "Thank you so much! I didn't want to die. _Thank you_."

You gave her a quick nod and smile, then rushed off to help Sasha with a seven meter class, leaving Armin in the generally titan-free, for the moment, area of the forest with the girl you'd saved.

"Does _anyone_ want to die, really?" he mumbled softly to himself, thinking about her earlier comment.

Yet somehow the female heard him, "Well, everyone reaches a point when they just can't anymore. They can't stand to not see all the faces of their lost comrades. They can't stand to see the faces of the living and know that someday they will be lost, too. So they give up. Even I was close to completely giving up at one point, just a few weeks ago actually. But then I realized that maybe that's not what everyone needs; to see another lost, and not even by the hands of titans. So I'm here. And I'm going to stay for as I long as I can. Fuck those titans, in the end _I'm_ going to be the one destroying _them_."

Then she was off, swords out and by her side as she reached a five meter class titan not too far away.

 _Maybe..._ he thought, _Maybe she's got something there._

> _So here you are, two steps ahead and staying on guard_
> 
> _Every lesson forms a new scar_
> 
> _They never thought you'd make it this far_
> 
> _But turn around (turn around), oh they've surrounded you_
> 
> _It's a showdown (showdown) and nobody comes to save you now_
> 
> _But you've got something they don't_
> 
> _Yeah you've got something they don't_
> 
> _You just gotta keep your eyes open_  
> 

  
You tripped over a loose shingle on a roof as you ran to Armin, but managed to grab onto a rusted old pipe to swing yourself back up. Luckily, he was waiting for you at the top, a hand outstretched in case you needed help, though you refused it. 

"It's okay," you grunted, "I got it." With one final push off the wall of the house on which the roof was situated, you performed a backflip of sorts and landed next to him, awkwardly trying not to fall. Armin firmly placed his hands on your shoulders, helping you find your balance. You breathed a quick "Thanks," and pulled him into a hug, "I was worried about you."

"Because I was always the weakest of the group?" he teased lightly, though you heard the melancholy undertone. _He doesn't understand does he?_

"No. Mikasa, Eren, and I... We're the same general type of strong, but you, you always had a different strength in you, and since it isn't the same as ours, or maybe as obvious, you, or whoever thinks you're feeble, has you labeled as the weakest link in the group. But you aren't. You are what holds us together and provides us with our strength. That, Armin, is not useless and unimportant, but in fact _the complete opposite_. It requires its own special brand of strength, which we don't have, but you do. Don't ever lose that strength, love. And I don't want to hear anything about being "the weakest of the group" ever again."

He nodded, then let a small smile through, realizing how much you cared for him. You smiled back and quickly kissed him sweetly on the cheek, ready to go back to battle.

Then you noticed the titans. Four of them. Fifteen meter class. Surrounding the both of you, closing in.

"Armin, let's go!" you yelled, launching yourself off the roof and heading for the closest adversary, blades out and prepared to fight. You turned your head to look back at him, finding him still standing in the same spot, staring at the titans, absolutely petrified.

"Armin!" you screamed madly, "Armin, get the hell out of there! Move!"

The fifteen meter closest to you swatted at your figure while you were distracted by the golden-haired boy, causing you to smack into the ground almost instantaneously.

There was an explosion of pain, and then it was gone, as quickly as it came.

But red. Red was everywhere. That's all you could think about. Red clouds. Red sky. Red sun. Red tears. And the screaming. All you could hear was screaming.

It felt like it went on for hours.

But then it stopped. And it was quiet. Peaceful almost.

You could feel yourself slipping away. And sleep. Suddenly all you wanted was to sleep, to close your eyes which suddenly felt oh so heavy.

The last words you heard were from a small, hurt voice.

"You promised," it whispered, full of untold emotion, "But (F/N), _you promised_."

> _Everybody's waiting for you to break down_
> 
> _Everybody's watching to see the fallout_
> 
> _Even when you're sleeping, sleeping_
> 
> _Keep your ey-eyes open_
> 
> _Keep your ey-eyes open_
> 
> _Keep your ey-eyes_

  
You were gone. That was all Armin could think about day and night. He was numb from the pain, but at the same time he felt it continuously. Sobs wracked his body at night, nightmares haunting his sleep, his thoughts, his being. Just when he thought he couldn't be more broken after all the deaths of his comrades, you were killed and suddenly everything around him completely collapsed. You were his world. And now that you were gone, what did he have left? This barren, sorrowful landscape? No. That didn't seem right. It wasn't right. Wherever you went, he'd have to follow. And so he'd decided on what he was going to do.

> _Keep your feet ready_
> 
> _Heartbeat steady_
> 
> _Keep your eyes open_
> 
> _Keep your aim locked_
> 
> _The night goes dark_
> 
> _Keep your eyes open_

  
Armin held the blade of his 3DMG to his throat, closing his eyes and pressing the edge closer and closer.

But then he stopped, holding still, thinking. What would you have thought of this?

There was a clatter as he flung the sword onto the cold tile ground, the sound echoing through the chamber.

This wasn't what you wanted, was it? You wanted him to keep his strength no matter what happened. And that girl you saved, she said something about how people didn't need more death around them, or something like that, right? To just stay for as long as one can.

 _But maybe I don't want to_ , he thought.

" _Hush, all we have left is to carry on. So we will. That's all we can do in this world that's been given to us._ "

That voice, almost indiscernible from the wind. He could've sworn that was her. _(F/N)_. But how?

"(F/N)?" he whispered.

He felt a shiver along his spine.

"What do you mean by we, (F/N)? If it's really you?"

He waited. Nothing. Maybe it was just his imagination, showing him what he wanted to hear. But then, he could hear it again, your voice, soft and angelic.

" _I'll always be here. I'll always be with you. I'm going to keep my promise._ "

> _Everybody's waiting for you to break down_
> 
> _Everybody's watching to see the fallout_
> 
> _Even when you're sleeping, sleeping_
> 
> _Keep your ey-eyes open_
> 
> _Keep your ey-eyes open_
> 
> _Keep your ey-eyes open_
> 
> _Keep your ey-eyes open_
> 
> _Keep your ey-eyes open_  
> 


End file.
